In holding on for the narrowest of wins, the Wolves won four precious league points, which secured them a place in next season’s North One West division.

With only one match remaining after this one, six of the 14 sides faced the threat of relegation.

At the end of the afternoon, only the Wolves and Leigh had made themselves safe as the former moved up to eighth place in the table – victory at Broughton Park this weekend and they could well finish in the top half of the table.

Everyone knew this match would be an unholy dogfight as the Wolves recalled stalwart Chris Lee for his last game before moving to Hong Kong, while it was also Ricky Chadwick’s likely swansong before he also departs for foreign parts.

The Cumbrians, for their part, travelled with their strongest and most experienced selection of rugged players – and what they would lack in pace and flair would be more than adequately compensated for in physical strength and tactical nous.

Wigton were the first to show in the early skirmishes as Wilmslow failed to tidy up Tane Manihera’s positional kick and were forced onto the defensive.

The Wolves were soon on the attack and missed a golden chance to score when Ben Day overran Mike Black’s final pass.

They were made to pay as the Wigton forwards started to get on top.

Having spurned one chance with a knock on, Wigton’s Matthew Atkinson made no such mistake with a second opportunity, brushing off tacklers to score out wide, Gregg Smith with the conversion.

Playing from deep, the Wolves continually lost the ball in the tackle and ruck but tenacious defence kept out Wigton.

Just before half-time, the Wolves got on the scoreboard when Black crossed after Alex Taylor and Alex Donaldson were both held up.

The half ended with the Wolves looking the more likely team to score – a trend continued after the break, even if Bob MacCallum’s penalty was scant reward.

From the restart, Manihera’s wild pass was fielded by Tom Gardner and fed inside to David Hanabury, who scored close to the posts.

Five minutes later though, MacCallum’s second penalty brought the Wolves back into the game as they trailed 14-13.

The game was an edgy one but the Wolves took the lead when Day took a scoring pass, MacCallum adding the conversion.

Wigton weren’t finished by any means though as the Wolves were twice penalised for pulling down the maul.

The Wigton support howled for a penalty try under the posts but they had to settle for a try from Jordan Wood.

They pressed again from the restart and, following medical attention for Black, Wolves cleared to halfway where Wood fielded the ball to run it back.

However, more Wilmslow defenders than Wigton attackers got across and, after a kick ahead forced Wigton to boot the ball dead, an absorbing contest came to a conclusion with neither side really deserving to lose.

Elsewhere, the Vikings confirmed their promotion to next season’s Bateman Premier league with a 51-19 success at Kendal.

The Developmentals also won, posting a victory at Trafford MV to confirm their promotion to University of Salford League Three South.